[3.16] g00fy_goober's Winter Orb Occultist (Easily clear all content)

Note: If you have any questions pertaining to the build. Please post them here or if you want feel free to ask in stream. Please do not PM me in game or on forum as you will not get a response.

Stream: Feel free to stop by my stream at twitch.tv/goof1313 if you have any questions about builds or guides. Always happy to discuss them on stream or answer any questions you may have.

ALWAYS READ THIS FIRST!!
ChangeLog
3.16 - New passive tree + mastery overall results in a smidge less dps but much more defensive.


Intro
Winter Orb is a skill that has been considered dead for quite awhile. Nothing felt as great as when it came out and you could charge it up, stack skill effect duration and run for 15-20 seconds through something like toxic sewers and just literally blow everything up. However the skill is far from dead thanks to certain unique items and power from influence mods and such. Simply put.... Winter Orb is back on the menu boys!


Pros
Very fun and engaging build to play
- Auto attacks all barrels/urns/jars etc
- Amazing clear speed
- Can continue to move while damaging enemies
- Can stop moving to cast twice as fast
- Easy to manage mana cost
- Really fun to play and watch things blow up
- Everything is shattered which sounds awesome when mobs die
- Don't have to worry about porcupines (MOSTLY)
- Freezes/chills most enemies and most bosses
- Very fun build to pour in currency and min/max
- Very fast movespeed
- Very nice build for Headhunter if you want to get one but not needed at all
- Double digit frenzy + power charges feels great


Cons
- Not absolute greatest single target damage in game but no issues with higher end gear
- Build can be incredibly expensive to min/max
- Cluster jewels (especially 3 notable cold ones) are extremely expensive
- NOT leaguestart Viable
- Tricky to meet res caps


Tree
https://bit.ly/3B3qnL3
*Note* Rest of passive points go into cluster jewels for both outside cluster jewel nodes. Additional passives are taken from thread of hope jewel. Best to look at POB.


Gear breakdown & Stat Prioritization

Helm
Crown of the Inward eye corrupted with +1 max power charge is the best in slot here. However if that is unavailable or you are waiting to corrupt a bunch of helms with enchant to try and get one, a rare with +1 max power charge and -chaos res is much better than crown without the +1 power charge corrupt. Might also be better to just use crown without the winter orb enchant and +1 max power charge and go from there.

Weapon
2x Void Batterys. Uniques are awesome because they are pretty easy to acquire. Obviously get as high roll for crit and cast speed as you can. Not a bad Idea to try and get a good corruption on these. Having damage pen is not too hard to get.

Chest
Getting any rare with say 500+ es and frenzy on hit is the first thing you want to go for. You 100% ABSOLUTELY need to get a frenzy on hit as it is the only way to generate frenzy charges. From there you want sort of the same thing except with +spell crit, elevated +spell crit is like the top end, and having any kind of res on this is prty big as well as resistances are really hard to max on this build with all the uniques.

Gloves
Hands of the high templar. Spell crit implicit is the biggest mod here along with ele weakness on hit. Would get at least those 2 at bare minimum. +2 aoe gems is the next step as it gives bonus to our auras and discipline. Any other + es or w/e else here is a bonus.

Boots
Good rare pair of boots is the best option here. You really need elusive and elevated elusive much better as the % to gain elusive on crit is much higher. Tailwind is also great but sort of a bonus and elevated elusive and tailwind with movespeed/onslaught is the end game. Getting another big res besides all this is HUGE in helping you for your resistances. Two-Toned base is also what you are going for.

Belt
Starting off with a Good crystal belt with res + es and es%would be the go to belt here. If you want to save and get headhunter it also works extremely well on this build, and helps alleviate a huge chunk of dex/str requirement that the build needs. However we do lose a chunk of ES if you go headhunter.

Jewelry
Amulet we use badge of the brotherhood. Elusive effect + making our max frenzy charge count the same as our power charge is just so OP for a build like this. Rings get a bit more complicated. The BEST ring to get is a precursors emblem. Having one with +1 max power charge is a massive dps increased. Between void battersy, ascendncy points, passive skills, badge of brotherhood and more we get a LOT of damage per power charge, then get an additonal frenzy charge and % dmg per of each and a bunch more stuff. +1 power charge on anything is prty amazing for this build. Anyway the best is to get a precursors (or make them and sell until you get what you want) Is a precursor's with + max power charge AND %es per power charge. With 11 power charges that means you get 33% maximum energy shield which is a HUGE chunk. The downside is that if you get a precursors it is INCREDIBLY hard to cap your resistances. Between unique weapons, helm, gloves, ring, ammy and a influence mod chest/boots there is not a ton of room to get resistances left. Making your last ring very important to get a big +str roll, flat es, as much res as you can fit and finally -mana cost to channeling skills.



Jewels
First grab a watcher's eye. Clarity max es + either dmg pen hatred or +flat cold dmg hatred. the XX to XX one. Dmg pen is SLIGHTLY better but by literally like the smallest amount, however it cost a LOT more in 3.15 so I just got the flat dmg hatred + clarity ES one.

Next is.... CLUSTER JEWELS. Simply put you want 3 mod cold clusters with Blanketed snow + prismatic heart + one of the other 3 suffix notables (any of them work). The problem is that these jewels are incredibly hard to roll and are insanely expensive.... like 15-20 exalts. You can definitely use a 2 mod and get blanketed snow and prismatic heart and then worry about 3 mods much later. Then mediums we get mostly projectile dmg ones, along with one curse one (which is godly and so good) and finish up with a small cluster jewel with energy from naught and some ES% on it.

Energy from within for our es, and thread of hope.

Finally we finish up with a couple rare jewels with %max es, crit multi with cold skills and crit multi for spells. Get any additional res/dex/str you need on jewels as well. Also 1 abyss jewel is picked up just to get flat fire damage to spells and some flat ES as cinderswallow gives 10% MORE damage while enemies are ignited so we need some source of fire damage.

**NOTE** Make sure to check POB for exact stats on cluster jewels or locations for the unique jewels that they need to be placed.


Gems & Links


3L Setup: Flame Dash - Faster Casting - Arcane Surge (level 5)
3L Setup: Vaal Haste - Vaal RF - Portal
4L Setup(Helm): Clarity (level 10) - Arcanist Brand (level 1) - Frostbite - Sniper's Mark
4L Setup(Gloves): Vaal Discipline - Hatred - Herald of Ice - Enlighten
4L Setup: CWDT (level 1) - Anomalous Frostbomb (level 10) - Divergent Bonechill - Awakened Unbound Ailments
6l Setup: Winter Orb - Awakened Added Cold - Awakened GMP - Power Charge on Crit - Infused Channeling - Inc Crit Dmg


Flasks
Dying Sun. This simply gives you more AOE and 2 additional projectiles which is huge with winter orb.

Bottled Faith of course is and always will be amazing. Higher crit rolls and % dmg taken the better.

Cinderswallow with crit chance. Free Onslaught, make sure to get ES on kill as it is huge while clearing.

Quicksilver Flask of quickness. Yup, go faster, always.

Lastly I use a wise oak (make sure cold res is your highest uncapped res. Since nerf this flask isn't GREAT but it is the best option we have left and adds a bit more damage.


Playstyle
Basically you charge up winterorb and run at enemies. It gets 12 stages (with enchant) and stays up for only a small amount of time. Holding still and channeling recharges those stages and also causes twice the frequency of bolts to shoot out. You will get into your own grove, but basically if there is a decent a mount of mobs on the screen I charge up, run towards mobs, stop and hold down while mobs are there, and continue to run on. If there is only a handful of guys I do not stop to channel as it will still one shot them as you run by. For single target and bosses, make sure you are channeling, have infusion up and pop your vaal gems. I would suggest to do vaal haste THEN vaal RF THEN vaal discipline.


No No Map Mods
No regen is the only one I really avoid. Ele reflect you avoid UNTIL you have 100% ele reflect reduction.
**NOTE** You have to have yugul passive + Exposure Tolerance nodes and this gives you 85% reduce d relfected damage taken, so you then need to get ANY TWO JEWELS with 10% reduced ele reflected dmg taken as implicits with harvest crafts. Once you have 100% you are then reflect immune.


Annointment
Disciple of the Slaughter if you have inward eye helmet, tranquility if you do not.


Enchants
Gloves - Any you want.
Boots - Any you want.
Helm - Winter Orb has +2 max stages.


Bandit

+2 Passives/Kill all


Ascendancy Points

Void Beacon - Frigid Wake - Forbidden Power - Malediction
Occultist literally has one of the strongest ascendancies I have ever seen. So many points are so good on this class and are all game changing.


Pantheon

Minor God - W.e you want

Major God - Soul of Solaris is what I went with. Some extra phys dmg reduction, less area dmg from hits, reduced ele dmg taken, take no extra dmg from crit strikes if you have take a crit strike recently, and 50% chance to avoid ailments from crits.

Feel free to change this as needed or use whatever other Major god you would like.


PoB link
https://pastebin.com/yKeRmMU2


Videos
https://youtu.be/LqUQ3cGgZFI

**NOTE** Video is ran without headhunter, no +1 power charge on helm and no percursors emblem either, build can still be pushed a good amount.


FAQ
Why does my damage feel low? Honestly it shoudldn't. Everything adds up really quick and dot damage scaling now is one of the best leveling experiences for clear. Single Target can be a bit meh depending on gear but with a few uniques and once swapped to 6l and have your power/frenzy charges up and decent clear, single target is much better.


How do additional projectiles work Additional projectiles actually increase the dmg you deal by a lot. Which is why something like dying sun or awakened GMP are so good. Shooting out something like 5 instead of 4 projectiles is huge.

Why do I keep running out of mana? To maintain 100% uptime on mana even when you are channeling you really need -mana cost on two rings and a level 10 clarity. Dropping one ring makes it a bit choppier but still easily controlled.

How do we generate frenzy charges? You need to have frenzy charge on hit on your chest armor. Getting +10 or +11 power/frenzy charges addes insane amount of power to your build. Without frenzies the build deals much less damage and you move much slower.





Hope you all enjoyed the guide and hope it allows many players to enjoy this wonderful game even more. If you have any questions/comments/vouches you are encouraged to post up as long as you have FULLY read the guide. Again you are also encourage to come ask questions on my stream. Happy farming my fellow exiles!
Last edited by g00fy_goober on Oct 21, 2021, 5:34:35 PM
Last bumped on Feb 9, 2022, 4:57:17 PM
Have you tried to make this build work in 3.16?

I made something like this: https://pastebin.com/9Cw7QXQ1 Could you take a look?
I tried to fit in cluster jewels but with masteries the build is very tight on points, so I made few versions.

Also in guide you wrote that its not starter viable, is that because of void batteries, badge and frenzy on hit requirement? or is there something else?
stats in pob are fine for the early game without those items
Last edited by losiupac on Oct 20, 2021, 1:20:40 PM
"
losiupac wrote:
Have you tried to make this build work in 3.16?

I made something like this: https://pastebin.com/9Cw7QXQ1 Could you take a look?
I tried to fit in cluster jewels but with masteries the build is very tight on points, so I made few versions.

Also in guide you wrote that its not starter viable, is that because of void batteries, badge and frenzy on hit requirement? or is there something else?
stats in pob are fine for the early game without those items


It is not starter viable for a lot of reasons tbh. Certain key uniques, the way the damage scales (needing to max lots of power charges), mana issues, being ES/CI, etc etc.

I am sure you could piece together some basic life based one but honestly it would feel pretty terrible. Winter orb is not a great skill without good investment/gear.

Also I am mid updating the stuff right now and will post in just another minute or two the updated stuff
Ok build is updated to new tree + masteries for 3.16. Overall build didn't change a huge amount but definitely more defensive and slightly less dps. Here is a more accurate breakdown of changes...


Positive Changes:

- Strength increased from 79 to 99
- Unreserved mana increased from 10% to 16%
- Es leech went up from 1000.8 to 1255.0 (recovery mastery + passive)
- Es regen went from 0 to 640.6
- Now take 30% reduced extra damage from crit (mastery)
- Soul thief now recovers 2% ES on kill (instead of es leech)
- Now Immune to Shock
- 15% increased effect of auras (Mastery, does not work in POB currently but will add more ES from discipline + some damage from hatred + mana regen from clarity
- Gained rare jewel to replace transcendent shit flesh


Negative Changes:

- Crit chance reduced from 99.21% to 96.59%
- Intelligence reduced from 461 to 377
- Dexterity reduced from 89 to 59 (dropped alacrity for something else)
- Max es lowered from 8340 to 7844
- Lost ele reflect immunity



Feel free to post or hit me up on stream if you have questions or I missed anything. There was a ton of changes in this league and it is very possible that I missed or overlooked something.

Last edited by g00fy_goober on Oct 21, 2021, 5:30:24 PM
"
g00fy_goober wrote:

I am sure you could piece together some basic life based one but honestly it would feel pretty terrible. Winter orb is not a great skill without good investment/gear.


I can only confirm this. I made Winter Orb Builds when the spell came out and played it for a few leagues after this until it got nerfed to the ground. It got nerfed every league but at some point it wasn't viable any more.

I love the spell and I also tried to click together a starter build based on the 3.16 pob. It looks fine on the sheet - it will not be as fine ingame.
On earlier patches WO projectiles hit way better. Now it's like you want to water a park with a balloon full of water with a tiny hole in it. For the one tiny patch of gras you hit with the water it will be fine - but overall you will not get the park watered in time.

It is super sad to see this spell perform so bad.
Like Goober says, it will kinda work. It can be some fun but if you can't get hold of good items you will feel like you hit a glass ceiling. There are other league starters that flood you with good scaling and very very low investments. Sadly Toxic Rain is currently the best one for that and I am getting bored of that. Toxic Rain = flavor , WO = not flavor. That is the sad answer.
Honestly a scuffed Freezing Pulse build would probably work better as a starter than Winter Orb.

In the past WO was even superfine in SSF without any unique items it scaled very good. Then it got nerfed and crown took care of some def issues and Cluster Jewels did really help for offensive. And then it got hit again and suddenly the only way to make it work was Power charge stacking and ES. Which is THE most unfriendly starter/ssf thing possible.

I really love to see someone is still doing a build for this spell <3 I will use something else as a starter and then play this later on.
Last edited by JeansJoe on Oct 22, 2021, 7:48:48 AM
"
JeansJoe wrote:

I can only confirm this. I made Winter Orb Builds when the spell came out and played it for a few leagues after this until it got nerfed to the ground. It got nerfed every league but at some point it wasn't viable any more.

I love the spell and I also tried to click together a starter build based on the 3.16 pob. It looks fine on the sheet - it will not be as fine ingame.
On earlier patches WO projectiles hit way better. Now it's like you want to water a park with a balloon full of water with a tiny hole in it. For the one tiny patch of gras you hit with the water it will be fine - but overall you will not get the park watered in time.

It is super sad to see this spell perform so bad.
Like Goober says, it will kinda work. It can be some fun but if you can't get hold of good items you will feel like you hit a glass ceiling. There are other league starters that flood you with good scaling and very very low investments. Sadly Toxic Rain is currently the best one for that and I am getting bored of that. Toxic Rain = flavor , WO = not flavor. That is the sad answer.
Honestly a scuffed Freezing Pulse build would probably work better as a starter than Winter Orb.

In the past WO was even superfine in SSF without any unique items it scaled very good. Then it got nerfed and crown took care of some def issues and Cluster Jewels did really help for offensive. And then it got hit again and suddenly the only way to make it work was Power charge stacking and ES. Which is THE most unfriendly starter/ssf thing possible.

I really love to see someone is still doing a build for this spell <3 I will use something else as a starter and then play this later on.


Ya it's still at a pretty sad state especially low investment and nothing like it was before.... but once you have a bit of investment/gear and can CI the build I was extremely surprised on how viable it was. Nothing godly like omg best skill in the game by far.... but even witht he ~40% dps nerf for almost all builds last league, having a bit of money/gear put into winterorb made things feel okay.

The biggest thing is early on single target damage.... it is rather lacking still, especially without more projectiles and such.
hello, How du you get 155dex? pob you only have 5.
our did i miss something ?
"
Rinolino79 wrote:
hello, How du you get 155dex? pob you only have 5.
our did i miss something ?


Early on picking up a 30 pt dex node or two is very helpful. Cluster jewel dex rolls helps a lot, rolling an extra mod on normal jewels is not a bad idea either. I also went headhunter and had a good amount of dex from that.
First time trying WO, just finished acts. Where do you get stun immunity, roll on jewels or not necessary?
"
AmazingBlee wrote:
First time trying WO, just finished acts. Where do you get stun immunity, roll on jewels or not necessary?


As an ES ranged build stun immunity does not really matter. Pretty sure I never had stun immunity on this build and never had any issues.

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